seriously- that's unreal. I just bought a butt-load of meat at Whole Foods yesterday and commented to my husband how knowledgeable they were. I thought they had some kind of meat training they had to go through to work there.

I went to Whole Foods after I first started PB - about 2 months ago - and 2 different employees didn't know what coconut milk was and said they obviously didn't carry it (other than the refrigerated sugared drink by that soy company). I later found out you can find it in the cans everywhere - even at the normal grocery stores....

The key to Whole Foods is the following:
a) Befriend a butcher by going a few times (ideally at opening time).
b) Get him to save you some fat from their grass-fed beef (or bison). Since their party-line is anti-animal fat, they trim their meat a lot. They don't even use the fat for their sausages (preferring to add canola oil - yuck - to them). They trim the meat in the morning, so be there within 30 minutes of opening time. They'll usually go on tilt when trying to figure out how to charge you for it, but they would eventually either give you the fat for free or at the lowest possible price from some product they carry.
c) Make your own tallow or lard.

O man I was so upset! I prefer thick bacon to thin and I think it was AppleGate Farms that sold thick, uncured, Applewood bacon at Whole Foods. But now, all their bacon is marked "40 % LESS FAT". They have no full-fat thick bacon available in any brand right now .